Pakistan’s total textile exports for August were up by 11 per cent year-on-year. All major segments (except yarn) reported higher volumetric and dollar sales over August 2014. Most textile segments reported a decline in terms of both volume and value.

Cotton yarn and knitwear exports showed improvement by 10 per cent and 19 per cent year-on-year in terms of volume respectively. One segment with a volumetric increase for the eight months of 2015 is yarn. Yarn exports were higher in volume by 13 per cent year-on-year but due to depressed international prices export earnings were down by 8 per cent. Knitwear had a 17 per cent increase in volume but a paltry one per cent improvement in value. Other than that, the remaining textile items witnessed a decline in volume.

Competition from India, Turkey, and Bangladesh continues to take its toll on the industry. Exporters have to compete with lower prices. Readymade garments have been the star of the show. For the eight months ended 2015, readymade garment exports increased in value by 12 per cent year-on-year despite lower volume sales. This is because readymade garments - and the value-added segment in general - offer superior margins and are more price-inelastic relatively to their non-value added counterparts.